title: A systematic investigation of confirmed autoimmune loci in early-onset psoriasis reveals an association with IL2/IL21.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Many autoimmune diseases share common susceptibility loci suggesting similar underlying cellular mechanisms involved in disease expression.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The purpose of this investigation was to study 21 genetic variants in 14 genes that are confirmed autoimmune loci in a cohort of patients with early-onset psoriasis.
  
  
  METHODS
  Patients with early-onset psoriasis (n = 750) and controls (n = 3531) were genotyped using the Sequenom(®) MassArray™ iPLEX Gold platform.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We found strong evidence of association with two variants in the IL2/IL21 (rs6822844, genotypic P = 3·3 × 10(-4) ; rs2069778, genotypic P = 7·86 × 10(-4)) region.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The findings, although requiring replication, suggest that IL2/IL21 may play a key role in the pathogenesis of psoriasis as well as in other diverse autoimmune diseases.
authors.affiliation: Dermatological Sciences, Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust, The University of Manchester, Manchester Academic Health Science Centre, UK. Richard.warren@manchester.ac.uk
authors.forename: R B
authors.initials: RB
authors.lastname: Warren
authors.forename: R L
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Flynn
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bowes
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Eyre
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Worthington
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Barton
authors.forename: C E M
authors.initials: CE
authors.lastname: Griffiths
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017668:Age of Onset; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D007376:Interleukin-2 / Q000235:genetics*; D007378:Interleukins / Q000235:genetics*; D008297:Male; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide / Q000235:genetics; D011565:Psoriasis / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology; D055815:Young Adult; D000098546:Interleukin-21
chemical_list: D007376:Interleukin-2; D007378:Interleukins; D000098546:Interleukin-21